FIRST
First Friday of the month, October - December
Doors at 6:30, Music at 7:00
Ben Siems
The Willie August Project
Friday, October 2nd, 2026
The Willie August Project performs Suite for a Dancer, the magnum opus of composer-guitarist Ben Siems. Comprising six movements played without pauses or breaks, this symphony-length work for jazz trio portrays the life of a professional dancer, from youthful emergence through late-career inner peace.
Ben Siems (group co-founder, guitarist/composer) has performed at venues across the country as a jazz, blues, and folk guitarist. He has received over two dozen awards and grants for compositions ranging in style from jazz to neoclassical and avant-garde/experimental.
Jeremy Hauer (group co-founder, drummer) studied under Minnesota icons Gordy Knudtson and Dave King, and has played with multiple Twin Cities jazz and Americana groups, including the Handcars, a Gordon Lightfoot tribute project, and currently, Wilkinson James. He is also an accomplished audio engineer whose credits include installing sound and video systems at the Ordway Center Concert Hall.
Matt Peterson (upright bassist) began studying jazz under legendary Twin Cities teacher and band director Don Bates, before pursuing a degree in music and music education at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He leads his own jazz group and regularly performs with Zacc Harris’ American Reverie, the Explosion Big Band, and the Twin Cities Hot Club.
Thomas Walker Jr. & Sarah Jackson
w/ Rebecca Leistikow
Friday, November 6th, 2026
Thomas Walker, Jr. started classical guitar lessons at age 10. He became captivated by the fingerstyle work of Leo Kottke, John Fahey, & others and spent many years playing and composing in that style. He returned to classical music in college, studying both classical guitar and music theory. He bought his first lute in 1992 and began studies with Phillip Rukavina not long thereafter. Since then, Thomas has performed with Phillip, Ensemble Polaris, Consortium Carissimi, Sprezzatura, Lute2Viols, the Rose Ensemble, the Bold North Baroque Opera, and the Venere Lute Quartet, as well as with local lutenists Paul Berget and Edward Martin.
Sarah Jackson, a native of the Twin Cities, has been devoted to Early Music since falling in love with the music of Bach as a child. She makes frequent appearances in music series across the Twin Cities, including the Lute Café, Twin Cities Early Music Festival, and Chamber at the Chapel. She has appeared with Consortium Carissimi, Aurora Ensemble, Glorious Revolution Baroque, and the Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company.
Like Sun Through Eyelids
"Let these songs become an awakening
a blinding light amidst the darkness
like sun through eyelids
Justin Spenner, Baritone
Carson Rose Schneider, Piano
Friday, December 4th, 2026
In a culture of heightened isolation, how do we cultivate genuine connection? How do we notice tiny moments of bliss and community when faced with anger and derision? Through poetry and song, Like Sun Through Eyelids explores cycles of waking and rest- valuing the path of self-discovery, growth, and, ultimately, transcendence.
2025 First Friday Archive
